^^^^^ 

* 


LIBRARY  OF  THE  THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY 

PRINCETON.  N.  J. 


PRESENTED  BY 


Princeton  UnivervSity  Library 


Division  _w_^_l_  rli> 

Section  __J_(^j_ii.2.  (P 


h^pSf P#^^  ^^^^Axk^t 


A   MODERN    PATRIARCH 


PLAYING   THE    DERBOUKA 


OUR  MAN  OF 
PATIENCE 


|\al  REV.  ANEES  T.  BAROODY,  Ph.  D 


THE  PILGRIM  PRESS 
BOSTON  CHICAGO 


coptbiqht,  1915 
Bt  ANEES  T.  BAROODY 


TO 

THE  EVER-SWEET  MEMORY 
OF  THE  ENGLISH  QUAKER  MISSIONARY 

THOMAS  LITTLE 

WHOSE   PATIENCE   AND  BROTHERLY   LOVE 

WERE   THE   MAIN   FACTORS   IN  THE 

SHAPING  OF  MY  CHRISTIAN 

LIFE  THIS   BOOK  IS 

DEDICATED 


^^^m^M  ^^^m^^ 


INTRODUCTION 


INTRODUCTION 

The  book  of  Job  is  generally 
recognized  as  one  of  the  most 
interesting  of  all  the  books  of  the 
Old  Testament  and,  as  a  divine 
drama,  stands  at  the  top.  No 
book  is  more  Oriental.  The  whole 
Bible  is  an  Oriental  book,  but  the 
book  of  Job  is  of  such  a  character 
that,  in  order  to  interpret  it  rightly, 
one  must  approach  it  from  the 
Oriental  point  of  view.  The 
author  of  this  volume,  being  a 
native  of  Mt.  Lebanon  and  having 
received  his  academic  training  in 
the  Syrian  Protestant  College  at 
Beirut,  has  been  successful  in 
approaching  it  from  this  point  of 
view.  I  have  read  his  manuscript 
with  great  interest.  Without 
fancifully  interpreting  the  book 
from  a  dramatic  point  of  view  he, 

17] 


INTRODUCTION 

nevertheless,  brings  to  bear  upon 
it  so  much  that  is  characteristic  of 
his  own  country  that  a  flood  of 
new  light  is  thrown  upon  it.  The 
average  student  of  the  Bible,  there- 
fore, cannot  possibly  read  his  work 
without  having  gained  a  better 
appreciation  of  the  book.  Most 
heartily  do  I  commend  it  to  the 
Bible  reading  public. 

George  L.  Robinson 

McCormick  Theological  Seminary, 
Chicago,  Illinois, 

October,  9th,  1914. 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


FACINQ  PAGE 

14 


A  Modern  Patriarch      .        .        Frontispiece 

A  Village  on  Mt.  Lebanon  . 

In  the  Land  of  Uz         ... 

Playing  the  Rubaba 

Playing  the  Derbouka  . 

Beirut;  Lebanon  in  the  Distance, 
Covered  with  Snow  . 

"The  Oxen  were  Ploughing"  Job  1 :13 

"Thou  Shalt  Forget  thy  Misery" 
Job  11:16     .... 


Three  Men  to  a  Spade  . 
Wherefore  Hidest  thou  thy  Face? 
Poverty,  Job  29:16 . 


A  Common  Type  op  Dwelling  Place  in 
Job's  Day 

A  Daughter  op  Job 

A  Funeral  on  Mt.  Lebanon 

A  Blind  Beggar  op  Beirut  . 


18 
26 
32 

38 
44 

50 
56 

62 
66 

70 
80 
86 
90 


C       ^ 

c    o 


i 


CHAPTER  I 
OUR  MAN  OF  PATIENCE 

Job  is  known  all  over  the  Holy 
Land  as  the  Man  of  Patience.  He 
looms  above  the  grand  procession 
of  moral  leaders  in  the  Old  Testa- 
ment as  the  most  courageous  poet 
and  of  unwavering  integrity.  His 
patience  has  become  proverbial. 
In  the  moment  of  extreme  dis- 
tress, when  endurance  is  nearly 
at  an  end,  a  Syrian  flings  out  his 
arms  and  exclaims,  ^^  0  for  the 
patience  of  Job  (ya  sabr  Ayyub) !  " 

May  it  not  be  stated  at  the 
start  that  the  main  point  in  the 
Book  of  Job  is  not  the  problem  of 
suffering,  as  many  scholars  have 
alleged.  God  allows  Satan  to  put 
Job's  boasted  perfection  to  the 
test,  to  let  loose  at  him  the  hungry 


OUR  MAN  OF  PATIENCE 


I 


hosts  of  the  horrid  animalcula  of 
elephantiasis,  or  black  leprosy. 
Then  both  God  and  Satan  stand 
outside  the  arena  and  watch  the 
combat.  Hence,  physical  suffer- 
ing is  the  means  by  which  Job's 
integrity  is  being  tested  and  can- 
not, without  doing  injustice  to 
our  reasoning  faculties,  be  con- 
sidered the  main  point  in  the 
Book  of  Job. 

The  main  point  is  the  unshaka- 
ble trust  of  the  suffering  poet  in 
his  own  integrity,  or  rather  in  his 
own  self.  Therefore,  all  things 
considered,  the  key  to  the  Book  of 
Job  is  the  words  —  "  Till  I  die  I 
will  not  put  away  mine  integrity 
from  me.  My  righteousness  I  hold 
fast,  and  will  not  let  it  go " 
(27  :  5,  6).  It  is  this  holding  on  to 
one's  integrity  that  constitutes 
the  main  buttress  of  patience,  and 
it  is  this  that  gives  the  inhabitants 
of  old  Syria  the  right  to  call  Job 
the  Man  of  Patience.    When  the 

[161 


OtJll  MAN  OF  PATIENCE 


keen-sighted  James  of  the  New 
Testament  sweeps  with  his  eyes 
the  vast  field  of  history  in  search 
for  a  man  whose  patience  he 
could  hold  up  before  the  per- 
secuted Christians  of  his  day  as  a 
good  example,  his  eyes  rest  on  none 
other  than  Job,  and  thus  he  says, 
^'  Ye  have  heard  of  the  patience 
of  Job/'  Moreover,  it  is  Job's 
integrity,  or  patience  in  its  truest 
sense,  that  Satan  has  in  mind 
when  he  says.  Doth  Job  fear  God 
for  nought?  and  that  Jehovah 
also  has  in  mind  when  He  says 
about  Job,  *^  And  he  still  holdeth 
fast  his  integrity  although  thou 
movedest  me  against  him,  to  de- 
stroy him  without  cause." 

The  Book  of  Job  is,  doubtless, 
a  great  book.  Luther  says  of  it, 
*'  Magnificent  and  sublime  as  no 
other  book  in  Scripture."  Renan 
says,  "  The  Book  of  Job  is  the 
Hebrew  book  par  excellence  — 
it  is  in  the  Book  of  Job  that  the 

1171 


'^ 


f  '      OUR  MAN  OF  PATIENCE 

i 

n'l , 


force,  the  beauty,  the  depth  of 
the  Hebrew  genius  are  seen  at 
their  best."  Tennyson  counts  it 
^'  the  greatest  poem  of  ancient  or 
modern  times."  "  I  call  it,"  says 
Carlyle,  *^  apart  from  all  theories 
about  it,  one  of  the  grandest  things 
ever  written  with  pen.  One  feels, 
indeed,  as  if  it  were  not  Hebrew; 
such  a  noble  universaUty,  different 
1^  from  noble  patriotism  or  noble 
sectarianism,  reigns  in  it.  A  noble 
book;  all  men's  book." 

As  to  the  nature  of  the  Book  of 
Job,  the  prevailing  opinion  among 
scholars  is  that  the  Book  of  Job 
is  a  drama,  the  writer  of  which  is 
a  Hebrew  genius  who  took  up  the 
story  of  an  afflicted  non-Israelite 
from  the  land  of  Uz,  located  some- 
where in  the  northeastern  part  of 
Palestine,  and  made  it  the  basis  of 
a  masterful  dialogue  on  the  prob- 
lem of  suffering.  Cheney's  idea  is 
|fr  that  the  story  was  picked  up  by 

the  IsraeHtes  in  old  Bashan,  known 

118] 


ti 


OUR  MAN  OF  PATIENCE 

at  present  as  Hauran,  the  strong- 
hold of  the  Druses. 

Being  a  drama  it  necessarily 
follows  that  the  story  recorded  by 
the  prose  parts  of  the  book  pre- 
dates the  poetry  part,  or  that  the 
story  comes  first  and  the  dialogue 
next.  That  this  drama  theory 
has  gained  wide  acceptance  in 
Occidental  countries  is  the  domi- 
nant note  of  the  elaborate  intro- 
ductions of  almost  all  the  newest 
commentaries  on  Job.  One  of  the 
leading  men  in  a  very  distin- 
guished pubHshing  house  in  New 
York  stated  last  August  that  the 
final  word  on  Job  had  already  been 
uttered  —  that  final  word,  of 
course,  presupposing  the  drama 
theory.  James  Strahan's  book, 
which  now  appears  on  the  shelf 
of  many  a  minister's  Ubrary,  is 
regarded  by  many  as  unsurpass- 
able—  and  Strahan  also  holds 
the  drama  theory.  Let  it  then  be 
borne   in   mind    that   almost   all 

19] 


'-^i 


m 


M 


OUR  MAN  OF  PATIENCE 

Occidental  scholars  regard  the 
Book  of  Job  a  drama. 

But  what  do  Oriental  scholars 
say?  It  must  be  stated  that  the 
few  Oriental  scholars  who  have 
lately  paid  any  attention  to  the 
Book  of  Job  have  utterly  rejected 
the  drama  theory  for  cogent  rea- 
sons which  are  forthcoming.  Fore- 
most among  those  scholars  is  the 
far-famed  Holy-Land  lecturer, 
known  by  the  pseudonym  Saleem, 
who  is  averse  to  have  his  real 
name  appear  in  print.  The  reader 
is,  however,  requested  to  pay  strict 
attention  to  what  the  modern 
Oriental  scholars  hold  regarding 
the  Book  of  Job. 

As  a  sidelight  let  it  be  noted 
that  the  Holy  Land  is  a  distinc- 
tively picturesque  country,  and 
that  the  writers  of  that  country 
have  concerned  themselves  more 
with  the  drawing  of  pictures  than 
with  the  stating  of  definite  concrete 
facts.    These  pictures  are  intended 

[201 


.>i 


\r 


^^W^^fa  ^^9^l4li 


to  be  looked  at  from  a  distance, 
whence  the  spiritual  light  with 
which  they  are  irradiated  makes 
them  beautiful  and  highly  im- 
pressive. But  they  are  never 
intended  to  be  put  under  the 
microscope,  or  subjected  to  the 
rigid  tests  of  exact  logic  and  science 
to  which  Occidental  scholars  have 
been  subjecting  them.  There  is 
a  placard  at  the  entrance  of  the 
vast  field  of  Oriental  rehgious 
teaching  which  all  Occidental  peo- 
ples will  do  well  to  read  and 
keep  in  mind.  That  placard  com- 
mands: ^^  Look  from  a  distance; 
draw  not  nigh  hither;  take  off 
thy  shoes  from  off  thy  feet  for  the 
place  whereon  thou  standest  is 
holy  ground."  It  takes  an  Orien- 
tal to  interpret  the  exact  meaning 
of  those  pictures  and  to  disclose 
the  thoughts  which  surged  in  the 
bosoms  of  the  ancient  Oriental 
seers  when  their  hands  were  busily 
painting  those  pictures.    In  other 

[21] 


t3r 


OUR  MAN  OF  PATIENCE 

words,  a  great  deal  of  reading  be- 
tween the  lines  is  necessary  to  a 
correct  understanding  of  the  Scrip- 
tures. And  who  can  do  that  bet- 
ter than  the  present-day  Orientals? 


^^^ 


^iTfWmw^^^wmkm^ 


A  PRESENT-DAY  PICTURE 


I 


CHAPTER  II 

A  PRESENT-DAY  PICTURE 

On  the  eleventh  of  June,  1914, 
while  traveling  in  the  Holy  Land 
gathering  material  for  his  lec- 
tures, Saleem  happened  to  enter 
one  evening  a  small  village  at  the 
foot  of  Hermon.  Owing  to  the 
absence  of  inns  and  hotels  in 
most  of  the  Lebanon  villages,  — 
in  fact,  there  are  no  hotels  except 
in  the  few  villages  known  as  sum- 
mer resorts,  and  even  those  are 
open  only  during  the  summer,  — 
and  owing  also  to  the  far-famed 
instinctive  hospitaUty  of  the  Syr- 
ians, Saleem  had  to  put  up  at 
some  house.  No  sooner  had  he 
reached  the  chief  market-place 
than  a  number  of  people  encircled 
him,  bombarded  him  with  all  sorts 

125] 


^sm^^^^^m, 


1 


pl^ 


OUR  MAN  OP  PATIENCE 

of  questions,  for  he  wore  European 
clothes,  and  then  started  to  extend 
to  him,  in  the  most  felicitous  terms 
of  ornate  expression,  their  invita- 
tions to  accompany  them  to  their 
homes.  He  followed  the  one  whom 
he  supposed,  judging  from  his 
honeyed  loquacity  and  the  marked 
respect  which  the  others  accorded 
him,  to  be  the  most  influential 
person  in  that  mountain  village. 

After  supper  Saleem's  host, 
whose  name  was  Abu-Milhim,  ad- 
dressing him,  said: 

"  0  most  respectful  guest,  you 
have  come  to  your  own  people, 
our  house  is  yours,  you  cannot 
imagine  how  happy  we  are  to  have 
you.  Let  me  ask  if  you  are  fond 
of  muanna "  (a  very  common 
kind  of  Arabic  poetry). 

Saleem  assured  him  that  he  was, 
and  that  he  had  been  for  a  long 
time  travehng  all  over  Syria  with 
the  special  purpose  of  meeting 
Syrian  poets  and  securing  all  he 

26 


PLAYING  THE  RUBABA 


A  PRESENT-DAY  PICTURE 


could  of  the  effusions  of  their 
naturally  effervescent  minds. 
Then  Abu-Milhim  went  on: 

"  You  know,  our  generous  guest, 
we  have  a  very  old  man  in  our 
village,  called  Abu-Ayyub  (father 
of  Job),  who  has  been  a  muanna 
composer  and  singer  from  child- 
hood. Although  he  is  bedridden 
and  looks  as  if  he  has  been  already 
for  years  a  denizen  of  the  horrible 
vaults  of  death,  his  fondness  of 
muanna  has  not  waxed  cold  and 
his  insatiable  desire  to  meet  Leba- 
non poets  tete-a-tete  and  have  a 
brush  with  them  has  never  waned. 
The  people  here  believe  that 
Sheikh  Abu-Ayyub  —  by  the  way, 
his  name  fits  him  splendidly  for 
he  and  his  son  Ayyub  are  both 
men  of  suffering  —  will  one  day 
die  with  the  tambourine  in  his 
clutch.  Poets  seek  him  from  every 
quarter  of  the  globe  to  break  a 
lance  with  him,  and  as  far  as  my 
knowledge  goes  he  has  never  been 

127] 


OUR     MAN     OF     PATIENCE 

known  to  bite  the  dust.  Al- 
though he  is  about  ninety  years 
old  —  probably  more,  for  he  does 
not  know  the  exact  date  of  his 
birth  —  his  mind  is  as  clear  as 
that  of  a  young  man  of  thirty. 
We  are  very  proud  of  him.'' 

Here  Abu-Milhim  pulled  out 
his  tobacco  bag  from  underneath 
his  waist-sash,  rolled  up  very  deftly 
a  thin  cigarette,  lighted  it  by  a 
flint  spark,  and  went  on,  after 
taking  a  long  puff: 

'^  Fortunately  two  eminent  poets 
have  called  on  Sheikh  Abu-Ayyub 
this  evening,  evidently  for  another 
poetical  fray.  It  is  not  at  all  in 
accordance  with  good  hospitality 
to  ask  you  if  you  would  Uke  to 
accompany  me  to  Sheikh  Abu- 
Ayyub's  house,  but  your  expressed 
desire  to  meet  Lebanon  poets 
justifies  such  a  breach  of  hospi- 
tahty.'' 

''  By  your  life,  Sheikh  Abu- 
Milhim,''    affirmed    Saleem,    ^'  it 

[28] 


A  PRESENT-DAY  PICTURE 

would,  indeed,  be  a  breach  of 
hospitality  to  deprive  me  of  at- 
tending such  a  poetical  contest. 
Your  kindness  is  overflowing.  You 
have  no  right  at  all  to  utter  the 
word  breach  J' 

On  entering  Sheikh  Abu-Ayyub^s 
house  Saleem  was  astonished  to 
find  the  small  abode  of  the  old 
invaUd  poet  full  of  people.  It 
was  only  after  a  great  deal  of 
wandering  to  and  fro,  amid  a 
babel  of  assertions  of  self-abase- 
ment and  nectarous  expressions  of 
welcome,  that  Saleem  succeeded 
in  finding  a  resting-place  on  a 
small  cushion  by  the  wall. 

A  few  feet  away,  opposite  Saleem, 
was  a  very  old  man  sitting  in  a 
bed  spread  on  a  fantastically- 
colored  old  Turkish  rug.  The 
deep  furrows  on  his  face,  the  long 
snow-white  beard  and  scanty  hair, 
the  look  of  languor  in  his  dark 
sunken  eyes,  indicated  that  he 
had  seen  far  more  years  than  the 

[29] 


OUR  MAN  OF  PATIENCE 


average  man  sees  and  had  drained 
the  cup  of  sorrow  to  the  dregs. 
His  bed-covers,  originally  white, 
looked  now  as  black  as  if  they  had 
been  for  months  in  a  collier's 
shop:  not  because  the  old  man 
had  nobody  to  look  after  him  and 
keep  his  bed  clean,  but  because, 
as  Saleem  learned  afterward,  his 
hermitical,  pecuharly-warped  mind 
considered  dirt  one  of  the  many 
means  of  torture  by  which  his 
body  must  be  mortified  before  his 
soul  could  become  worthy  of  a 
golden  crown.  That  was  Sheikh 
Abu-Ayyub,  the  famous  poet. 

On  casting  a  scrutinizing  look 
over  the  noisy  crowd  Saleem  saw 
that  there  were  two  other  poets 
in  the  house,  and  each  of  them 
was  surrounded  by  a  large  circle 
of  grim-visaged,  broad-shouldered 
young  men.  Although  sitting  in 
his  bed,  with  a  deathly  face  and 
deep  glistening  eyes.  Sheikh  Abu- 
Ayyub  was  also  surrounded  by  a 

1301 


A  PRESENT-DAY  PICTURE 

group  of  hilarious,  sun-burnt  young 
men,  the  clapping  of  whose  mas- 
sive, callous  hands  might  be  heard 
for  miles  away. 

Instantly  two  young  men  ap- 
peared, one  with  a  bottle  of  arak^ 
in  the  right  hand  and  a  small  glass 
cup  in  the  left,  and  the  other  with 
a  tray  on  which  there  were  four  or 
five  plates  full  of  pistachio,  salted 
chick-peas,  and  some  native  sweets. 
With  the  exception  of  the  boys 
everybody  in  the  house  drank  a 
cup  and  helped  himself  to  a  httle 
of  the  contents  of  the  tray.  Those 
who  had  no  incHnation  to  drink 
the  proffered  cup  could,  by  touch- 
ing the  edge  of  it  with  their  hps, 
prove  to  the  host  and  his  guests 
that  they  were  by  no  means  dis- 
courteous. But  poets  must  drink 
arak,  for  it  is  universally  believed 

'A  strong  Syrian  intoxicating  drink  dis- 
tilled from  grape  juice  and  anise-seed.  It  is 
naturally  colorless,  but  turns  milk-white  on 
addition  of  water.  Drunkards  call  it,  "  Tears 
of  the  Virgin." 

[31] 


mim^^^^M^^^^^m 


OUR  MAN  OF  PATIENCE 

in  Syria  that  arak,  the  essence  of 
the  very  heart-blood  of  the  vine, 
is  the  most  intimate  friend  of 
impromptu  poets,  and  the  mind- 
wheels  will  not  revolve  unless  first 
well  lubricated  by  *^  Tears  of  the 
Virgin/' 

Very  soon  afterward  a  tambour- 
ine was  passed  to  Sheikh  Abu- 
Ayyub.  He  refused  to  touch  it, 
shaking  his  head  in  a  very  signifi- 
cant manner,  for,  being  the  host, 
it  would  be  impolite  for  him  to  sing 
first.  But  the  other  two  poets 
declared  in  a  very  respectful  man- 
ner that  Sheikh  Abu-Ayyub  was 
older  than  their  fathers,  and, 
whether  host  or  guest,  he  pos- 
sessed that  memorable  evening  the 
unchallengeable  right  of  letting 
go  the  first  arrow. 

After  a  great  deal  of  taking  and 
giving.  Sheikh  Abu-Ayyub  raised 
the  tambourine  in  his  left  hand  and 
struck  it  with  the  right  to  a  cer- 
tain famiHar  tune,  which  was  in- 

1321 


A    PRESENT-DAY    PICTURE 


I 


I 


stantly  caught  up  by  one  or  two 
derbouka  strikers  among  his  young 
men,  while  the  rest  of  them  clapped 
their  big  hands  in  perfect  con- 
sonance with  the  tambourine  and 
derboukas. 

It  was  not  more  than  a  few 
minutes  before  Sheikh  Abu- 
Ayyub's  young  men  turned  al- 
most mad.  They  gave  expression 
to  their  so-far  suppressed  feelings 
of  joy  in  such  a  wild  uproarious 
manner  that  one  might  have  feared 
for  the  safety  of  the  ceiling  had  it 
not  had  oak  beams  and  a  covering 
of  heavy  earth  one  foot  deep. 
The  well-cadenced  music  of  the 
clapping  of  their  hard  hands  was 
deafening. 

No  sooner  had  the  uproar  sub- 
sided than  Sheikh  Abu-Ayyub  sang 
muannaj  striking  the  tambourine 
gently: 

Alas  I  my  days    are    fleeting:    joy    has 
fled  away, 


And  sadness,  dark  and  grim,  has  come 

with  me  to  stay. 
My  jet-black  hair  has  turned  as  white 

as  Hermon  snow, 
A  ad  e'en  my  razor  seems  with  anger 

now  to  bay.^ 

His  young  men,  clapping  exultingly 
to  the  tune  of  the  tambourine 
and  derboukas,  sang  after  him  the 
last  two  lines,  so  as  to  give  him 
a  little  time  for  thinking  and  to 
express  their  approval  of  what  he 
had  already  sung.  Then  he  went 
on,  using  the  third  line  of  the  first 
quatrain  as  a  foundation  for 
another  quatrain : 

My  jet-black  hair  has  turned  as  white 

as  Hermon  snow, 
And  e'en  my  razor  urges  me  a  beard  to 

grow. 

1 A  fairly  exact  translation  of  the  poetry 
Sheikh  Abu-Ayyub  sang  offhand.  The  Arabic 
measure  and  way  of  rhyming  are  also  kept. 
The  tune  called  muanna  is  slow  and  dreamy; 
low  at  the  beginning. of  the  line,  high  at  the 
middle,  and  low  again  at  the  end.  It  varies 
a  little  with  the  different  poets. 
[34 


^^^rSi^^^^M^f^^f^^^^S^^^^^rZ 

1 

1 

A  PRESENT-DAY  PICTURE 

1 

1 

i    A  shout  of  wild  approval  rent  the 

jffijni    air,   a,nd  the  young  men  of  the      j 

^n 

j^Jl    old    poet,    clapping   more   wildly 

^m 

W^    than  ever,  sang  after  him  twice 

^ 

'■.    over  the  last  Hne,   quite  in   ac- 

^ 

cordance     with     muanna     laws. 

^ 

1^     Then  he  proceeded: 

i 

BO"ij     In  previous  days  my  wife  would  never 

^^        answer,  No, 

"3^ 

JyJ]      But  now,  alas!  she  worries  me  by  night 

^ 

Jf^i        and  day. 

lN^ 

^; 

rn  V 

GM    At  this  point  the  third  and  fourth 

^ 

i|[S^^    lines  only  of    the  first    quatrain 

m 

jOPj     were  sung  over  again,  as  a  refrain. 

nti 

^     by    Sheikh    Abu-Ayyub's    young 

^fk 

^^    men.     Then  he  took  up  the  fourth 

'^ 

ffl};    line     of     the     second     quatrain, 

mE 

^     changed  it  a  little,  and  sang: 

M. 

%^      But  now,  alas!  she  worries  me  by  day 

1^ 

^j^j'         and  night, 

A^ 

'Wf      Remembering  not  that  I  have  nearly 

^ 

1^         lost  my  sight. 

\^\ 

ifxM      I   wish   some   angel   or   some   massive 

vjl 

^^          heavenly  kite 

1 

^\^,     Would  take  me  where  the  saints  of  God 

^^i        forever  pray. 

1351 

1 

■^ 

hmm^^^^m 

^g^l^^^^^^^^ 

M 

OUR     MAN     OF    PATIENCE 

1 

Would  take  me  where  the  saints  of  God 

forever  sing, 

KjS 

And  save  me  from  my  own  Creator's 

^m 

deadly  sting; 
For  God,  and  wife,  and    friends,  and 

M 

every  mortal  thing  — 

^ 

All  seem  to  have  some  good  advice  to 

w^ 

preach  or  say. 

M 

All  seem  to  have  some  good  advice  to 

S 

say  or  preach 

W 

And  mine  own  righteousness  before  the 

^ 

stars  impeach. 

i 

Beware,  0  man!  the  one  whom  now  you 

love  and  teach 

Your  art  may,  Judas-like,  your  sacred 

Ah\ 

love  betray. 

The  last  word  had  hardly  been 
uttered  when  Sheikh  Abu-Ayybu's 
young    men    cheered    wildly    for 
two  or  three  minutes:    all  half- 
standing,  waving  their  hands  above 

r/jl 

their    heads,    and    shouting    one 

after    another  —  ^'  Bishaif  Sheikh 

Abu-Ayyub   ya  shabab   wa  hay, 

hay!    Bow  down  with  your  sword 

and  shield  to  Sheikh  Abu-Ayyub, 

'vis^ 

136] 

^^^^^^^^^^^ 

^y\.i 

A    PRESENT-DAY    PICTURE 

O  young  men,  hay,  hay!!  .  .  .  ^^ 
and  then  cheering  all  together. 

Then  Sheikh  Abu-Ayyub  struck 
the  tambourine  and  sang  quarradi: 

Sacred  friendship  will  not  bend 
Though  the  wounds  of  parting  smart : 
Welcome,  welcome,  faithful  friend, 
Peace  and  joy  have  filled  my  heart. 

For  about  fifteen  minutes  the 
quarradi  poured  out  from  the 
toothless  mouth  of  the  old  poet, 
singing  one  quatrain  or  two  at 
a  time,  the  last  line  always  rhym- 
ing with  the  fourth  line  of  the 
first  quatrain.  The  boisterously 
excited  young  men,  squatting  like 
big  imps  around  the  old  man^s 
bed,  sang  over  the  refrain,  which 
consisted  of  the  third  and  fourth 
lines  of  the  first  quatrain,  at  the 
end  of  every  quatrain. 

The  quarradi  tune  is  rapid  and 
melodious,  the  foot  of  the  verse 
being  a  regular  trochee,  with  two 
rises  and  two  falls  in  the  voice  in 
every  fine,  the  rise  preceding  the 

[37] 


OUR     MAN     OF    PATIENCE 

fall.  It  is  somewhat  a  relief  to 
the  ear  after  the  slow,  dreamy, 
touching  muanna  tune. 

As  soon  as  Sheikh  Abu-Ayyub 
felt  a  little  tired  he  passed  the 
tambourine  over  to  the  poet  next 
to  him  in  age,  Abu-Naseef,  who 
had  been  quietly  and  carefully 
taking  in  what  he  had  been  singing. 

Abu-Naseef  had  the  whole  field 
for  himself  for  about  twenty 
minutes,  singing  both  muanna  and 
quarradi.  His  young  men  in  their 
turn  were  not  less  boisterous  than 
Sheikh  Abu-Ayyub^s.  Once  or 
twice  one  of  them,  a  pockmarked, 
thick-set,  jolly-looking  fellow, 
would  snatch  the  fez  off  the  head 
of  one  of  his  neighbors  in  excite- 
ment and  hit  the  ceiling  with  it. 

From  Abu-Naseef  the  tambour- 
ine passed  to  Abu-Asaad,  who  did 
his  best  to  throw  his  two  competi- 
tors into  the  shade.  So  the  singing 
went  on:  each  of  the  three  poets 
attempting  to  outshine  the  other 

[38] 


Wr^tT4>Tiia 


A    PRESENT-DAY    PICTURE 

two.  It  did  not  take  them  long 
before  they  clung  to  a  definite 
subject  and  followed  it  for  about 
three  hours.  Sheikh  Abu-Ayyub 
had  unquestionably  the  ripest  and 
pithiest  thoughts,  but  owing  to 
his  old  age  and  his  manifest  physi- 
cal weakness  he  was  liable  to 
occasional  digressions  from  the 
main  Une  of  thought.  Sometimes, 
while  his  young  men  were  singing 
the  refrain,  he  would  ask,  "  What 
did  I  say  last?  ''  That  was,  of 
course,  pardonable  in  his  case. 

At  the  conclusion  of  that  mem- 
orable poetical  contest  Saleem 
walked  back  to  his  host^s  home  in  a 
very  exultant  state  of  mind.  He 
had  attended  in  his  younger  days 
many  poetical  frays  of  that  kind  — 
in  fact  every  wedding  on  Mt. 
Lebanon  and  every  special  occa- 
sion of  merriment  is  considered 
incomplete  without  the  clash  of 
the  intellectual  swords  of  the  na- 
tive poets  and  without  the  tinkling 

139] 


OUR  MAN  OF  PATIENCE 

sounds  of  their  tambourines.  But 
never  before  had  his  mind  busied 
itself  so  assiduously  in  hunting 
up  analogies  between  the  poetical 
contest  related  in  the  Book  of 
Job  and  the  contest  of  the  Leba- 
non poets  which  he  had  witnessed 
that  evening. 

While  we  are  gazing  at  this 
present-day  picture  it  is  well  for  us 
to  know  that  nearly  every  village 
on  Mt.  Lebanon  boasts  of  at  least 
one  poet,  called  in  Arabic  qawwal, 
who  can  sing  poetry  impromptu 
whenever  and  wherever  he  is  called 
upon  to  do  so.  The  majority  of 
those  Lebanon  poets  are  illiterate, 
but  now  and  then  one  comes  across 
some  flaming  genius  of  a  poet 
who  can  read  and  write  and  who 
can  sing  as  good  poetry  as  that  of 
Job,  if  not  better.  One  marvels 
how  such  a  poet  can  sing  offhand 
for  several  hours  well-measured 
poetry,  interspersed  wdth  clever 
hits  and  beautiful  gems  of  thought, 

1401 


i 


A    PRESENT-DAY    PICTURE 

which  will  not  fail  to  put  to  shame 
the  poetry  of  many  a  college  pro- 
fessor. Long  years  of  untiring 
practice,  encouraged  and  sustained 
by  the  enthusiastic  approval  with 
which  success  in  that  art  is  met  by 
the  people,  have  developed  the 
poetical  faculties  of  those  poets 
to  a  very  high  degree. 

It  is,  however,  a  remarkable 
fact,  yea,  rather  an  important 
discovery,  that  the  larger  part  of 
the  poetry  of  the  Book  of  Job  can, 
without  much  difficulty,  be  sung  to 
the  quarradi  tune,  which  is  very 
common  in  Syria  at  present.  In 
some  places  the  quarradi  tune  fits 
splendidly  and  the  Hebrew  flows 
on,  without  a  single  jar,  like  the 
smoothest  of  Arabic  quarradi. 

Therefore,  looking  at  the  Book  of 
Job  in  the  simplest  way  —  ^'  and 
real  things  are  simple  ''  —  we  must 
aver  that  it  is  an  account  of  a 
poetical  contest  which  took  place  a 
long  time  ago  at  some  isolated  place 
[411 


l^TfM^^^i^^l 

Ail 

OUR     MAN     OF    PATIENCE    | 

1 

in  Syria.    That  account  was  proba- 

^ 

bly  written  out  by  one  man,  who 

o 

'M 

took  from   the  poets  what  they 

Rn 

rf/K 

had  sung  in  the  contest,  revised 

SM 

or  moulded  it   according   to   his 

y^ 

own  mind,  and  then  gave  it  out 

^ 

to  the  world  in  the  shape  we  have 

jSI 

in  our  hands  now.     Many  similar 

M 

collections  of  Arabic  poetry,  sung 

w. 

within  the  last  fifty  years  by  il- 

^ 

literate  Lebanon  poets,  are  being 

K> 

/fiR 

sold    in   all    the   book    stores    of 

Ba> 

'     Palestine. 

With  this  fresh  present-day  pic- 

1 

ture  before  our  minds  we  can  now 

M 

proceed  to  the  study  of  the  Book  of 

Job. 

1 

1 

1 

JfS 

[421 

i 

^mm^^^^^^ 

^ 

AN   OLD-TIME   PICTURE 


m 
o 

D 

o 

<^ 

P, 


i 


The  old  poet  Job,  or  Sheikh 
Ayyub,  has  been  stricken  with 
elephantiasis.  He  lies  on  the  dung- 
hill —  called  mizbeleh  in  Arabic  — 
in  front  of  his  home  and  starts 
scraping  the  boils  and  scales  with 
a  potsherd.  Soon  the  news  of  his 
affliction  spreads  around  and  his 
three  friends,  Ehphaz,  Bildad,  and 
Zophar,  mount  their  camels  and 
start  toward  his  home.  When 
they  see  him  lying  on  the  dunghill 
they  lift  up  their  voices  and  weep, 
a  custom  which  still  survives  in 
Syrian  funerals. 

Job^s  friends  do  not  only  weep  — 
they  rend  their  clothes  and  sprinkle 
dust  upon  their  heads  toward 
heaven.     So  they  sit  down  with 

145 


I?T 


^m^. 


OUR     MAN     OF     PATIENCE 


Job  upon  the  ground  seven  days 
and  seven  nights,  and  none  speaks 
a  word  unto  him :  for  they  see  that 
his  grief  is  very  great. 

Then  Job  takes  the  tambourine 
and  strikes  it. 

The  poetical  contest  is  about  to 
begin.  The  poets  have  seated 
themselves  according  to  age.  A 
large  crowd  of  people  has  gathered 
around  them.  Men  and  women, 
old  and  young,  are  impatiently 
waiting  for  the  beginning  of  the 
long-expected  contest.  The  odds 
are  against  the  three  friends,  for 
Job  has  heretofore  been  invincible. 
Some,  however,  are  rather  afraid 
that  the  malignant  disease  from 
which  he  is  suffering  may  affect 
the  usual  easy  flow  of  his  thoughts 
and  the  clarity  of  his  mind. 

After  this  Job  opens  his  mouth 
and  curses  his  day.  He  curses  the 
day  in  which  he  was  born 
(3  :  3-10),  asks  why  he  did  not  die 
when  he  was  born  (3  :  11-19),  and 

46] 


AN  OLD-TIME  PICTURE 


why  should  one  be  made  to  live 
when  he  wants  to  die  (3  :  20-26). 

The  cursing  by  Job  of  the  day 
in  which  he  was  born  indicates 
that  the  sufferer  is  exceedingly 
angry  and  is  wishing  for  death 
to  come  and  relieve  him  from  his 
sufferings.  He  longs  to  pass  into 
the  shadowy  land  of  death. 
"  There  the  wicked  cease  from 
troubUng;  and  there  the  weary  are 
at  rest  ^'  (3  :  17). 

Here  it  is  that  Job^s  attitude 
toward  God,  in  the  eyes  of  the 
three  friends,  becomes  that  of 
defiance  rather  than  of  patient, 
unquestioning  submission.  One^s 
birth  and  death  are  completely 
in  God's  hands  and  it  is  blasphem- 
ous for  any  human  being  to  whisper 
the  least  complaint  regarding 
them.  The  terrific  sohtude  of 
Sinai,  where  Jehovah  gave  his 
name  to  man,  is  merely  an  emblem 
of  the  still  sohtude  which  must 
rule  in  every  temple  bearing  God's 

[47 


OUR.    MAN     OF     PATIENCE 


name,  whether  that  temple  be  of 
stones  or  of  flesh  and  blood.  That 
is  what  the  Oriental  believes  to  be 
the  proper  attitude  of  man  toward 
God. 

A  woman  is  squatting  on  the 
narrow  sidewalk  in  Beirut,  gesticu- 
lating hysterically  in  a  very  piteous 
way.  Now  and  then  she  strikes 
her  head  hard  with  the  palms  of 
both  hands.  Every  one  that  sees 
her  thinks  that  she  is  insane. 
She  says  in  a  heart-rending  tone, 
"  I  pray  you,  kill  me  and  rid  me  of 
this  miserable  life! ''  Suddenly 
you  hear  a  voice  saying  to  that 
woman  in  a  commanding  tone: 
''  Blaspheme  not,  O  daughter;  bless 
God  and  keep  quiet;  the  hour  of 
death  has  wisely  been  withheld 
from  man;  bridle  your  tongue  in 
the  presence  of  the  omnipotent 
God;  sinful  man  has  no  right  to 
utter  a  single  complaint  in  His 
presence.''  The  speaker  has  a 
wide   white    turban   and    a   long 

[48] 


AN   OLD-TIME   PICTURE 

grizzled  beard.  He  is  one  of  the 
best  known  religious  leaders  in 
Beirut. 

What  this  religious  leader  says 
to  the  forlorn  woman  voices  the 
sentiment  of  almost  all  Orientals 
regarding  man^s  attitude  toward 
God  in  the  hour  of  suffering. 
Whether  one  is  suffering  or  not  it 
is  highly  sacrilegious  to  curse  the 
birthday  or  to  utter  a  single  com- 
plaint regarding  God's  dealings 
with  his  children.  The  present 
inhabitants  of  the  Holy  Land  say, 
'^  Man's  eye  must  never  be  turned 
toward  Heaven  with  any  other 
object  than  that  of  reverent 
prayer."  Therefore,  the  first  sign 
of  Job's  rebellion  in  the  eyes  of  his 
three  friends  is  his  cursing  of  his 
birthday  and  the  wishing  for  death. 

THE  SPEECHES  OF  THE  THREE 
FRIENDS 

A  noteworthy  characteristic  of 
all  the  Syrian  poets  is  the  desire 

[49] 


to  make  every  other  poet  lick  the 
dust.  Every  poetical  contest  be- 
gins with  suave  honeyed  expres- 
sions of  strikingly  clever  thoughts, 
either  in  praise  of  a  bridegroom  or 
some  other  eminent  person,  or  in 
elucidating  some  interesting  topic, 
and  ends  with  the  hurUng  of 
venomous  missiles  in  every  direc- 
tion. Many  of  the  iUiterate  people 
seem  to  think  that  such  a  contest 
could  not  be  very  interesting  with- 
out such  a  spectacular  ending. 
The  poet  who  can  be  wittiest  at 
his  opponent's  expense  generally 
gets  the  most  applause.  Thus 
poets  begin  the  contest  as  wise  men, 
the  respected  intellectual  leaders 
of  the  community,  and  end  as 
bitter  enemies  ready  to  jump  at 
each  other's  throats.  And  very 
often  at  such  a  moment  the  inter- 
vention of  an  outsider,  a  univer- 
sally respected  man,  an  Elihu, 
or  the  village  priest,  introduces  a 
spirit  of  reconciUation,  thus  pre- 

[50] 


1.% 


|Pg|^       j^5S%. 


"thou   SHALT   FORGET  THY   MISERY" 

Job  11;  16 


AN  OLD-TIME  PICTURE 


i 


venting  the  occurrence  of  an  actual, 
and  sometimes  bloody,  feud. 

Now  taking  up  the  speeches  of 
Ehphaz  we  find  manifested  in 
them  the  same  Oriental  spirit 
which  has  just  been  described. 
Eliphaz  begins  (ch.  4  and  5)  in 
a  calm,  courteous  spirit,  and  ends 
in  an  agitated  rancorous  one.  He 
begins  with  indirect  insinuations, 
and  ends  with  mahcious  merciless 
stabs. 

Being  a  native  of  the  land  of 
dreams  and  visions  EUphaz  sees 
a  vision  in  the  night.  He  is 
sleeping  in  the  open,  in  the  center 
of  a  vast  plain  hemmed  in  on  all 
sides  by  high  bleak  mountains. 
It  is  midnight,  and  perfect  silence 
reigns.  The  sky  above  his  head  is 
besprinkled  with  myriads  of  bold 
stars,  the  unusually  clear  twinkUng 
of  which  seems  to  behe  the  theory 
that  they  are  biUions  of  miles 
distant  from  the  earth.  The  voice- 
less   solitude    affects    his    nerves, 

[51 


OUR  MAN  OF  PATIENCE 

and  his  eyes  appear  not  to  have 
the  least  incUnation  to  close.  His 
Oriental  mind,  accustomed  from 
childhood  to  hearing  long  jinn 
stories  and  accounts  of  encounters 
with  evil  spirits,  busies  itself  in 
the  midst  of  that  awe-inspiring 
silence  in  conjuring  up  all  sorts 
of  fantastic  pictures.  Having  be- 
come highly  sensitive  Eliphaz  sees 
a  vision,  a  spirit  passing  before  his 
face,  interposing  between  him  and 
the  stars.  It  stands  still  in  mid- 
air. Fear  comes  upon  him  in  a 
nightmare  and  makes  all  his  bones 
to  shake.  A  chill  of  horror  runs 
through  him;  his  hair  stands  up. 
Then,  all  of  a  sudden,  he  hears  a 
voice,  deep,  solemn,  firm,  breaking 
the  fearful  silence  that  surrounds 
him  and  saying: 

Shall  mortal  man  be  more  just  than 

God? 
Shall  a  man  be  more  pure  than  his 

maker? 


i 


AN  OLD-TIME  PICTURE 


rather,  dramatic,  than  that? 
Surely  Eliphaz  is  a  very  versatile 
artist.  He  knows  how  to  ap- 
proach a  very  difficult  subject. 
Back  in  his  mind  lurks  the  thought 
that  Job,  a  mortal  man,  has  been 
suffering  as  a  direct  consequence 
of  his  sin.  Job,  by  complaining, 
has  set  himself  above  God,  thus 
making  himself  more  just  than 
God.  But  it  would  not  be  wise 
to  say  that  to  Job  at  the  start. 
Hence  the  impersonal  or  general 
way  in  which  he  expresses  himself 
in  his  first  speech  — ''  Shall  mor- 
tal man  be  more  just  than  God?  " 
—  "  But  man  is  born  unto  trouble^* 
— "  Happy  is  the  man  whom 
God  correcteth.^'  It  is  man  in 
general,  and  not  Job,  with  whom 
EUphaz  is  apparently  concerned. 

In  his  second  speech  (ch.  15) 
EUphaz  flings  aside  the  garb  of 
courtesy  and  becomes  somewhat 
direct.  Although  he  does  not  say 
to  Job,  right  to  his  face,  ''  Thou 

1531 


OUR  MAN  OF  PATIENCE 

art  a  wicked  man/'  he  paints 
before  Job's  eyes,  in  his  own  imagi- 
native way,  a  very  glaring  picture 
of  the  wicked.  After  telling  Job 
that  his  own  hps  testify  against 
him,  and  after  reiterating  what  he 
had  already  stated  in  his  first 
speech  regarding  the  justice  and 
righteousness  of  God  as  contrasted 
with  the  corruption  of  a  man 
*'  that  drinketh  iniquity  Uke 
water,''  he  proceeds  to  paint  an 
unpleasant  picture  (15  :  17-35). 
Of  course,  a  keen-minded  poet 
Uke  Job  could  not  fail  to  under- 
stand whom  EHphaz  has  in  mind 
when  he  so  masterfully  paints  that 
picture. 

In  his  third  and  last  speech 
(ch.  22)  Eliphaz  unmasks  his  real 
self.  What  has  already  been  surg- 
ing inside  his  bosom  finds  now  an 
outlet.  Tired  of  soaring  high  in 
the  region  of  visions  and  dreams 
and  of  speaking  indirectly  to  a 
man  against  whom  he  has  many 

[54 


AN  OLD-TIME  PICTURE 

charges  to  make,  he  now  descends 
to  terra  firma  and  looks  Job 
squarely  in  the  face.  He  has 
already  felt  the  odds  going  against 
him,  has  seen  his  two  friends 
intimidated  by  Job's  vehemence 
of  expression,  and  has  watched 
with  no  Uttle  fear  the  rise  of  Job's 
overwhelming  tide  of  thought;  and 
now  he  must  aim  his  dagger  at 
the  most  vulnerable  point  and 
stab.  It  is  his  last  chance.  He 
speaks  to  Job  in  rapid  flaming 
sentences: 

Is  not  thy  wickedness  great?  (a  fearful 
frown.) 

Neither  is  there  any  end  to  thine  iniq- 
uities. 

For  thou  hast  taken  pledges  of  thy 
brother  for  nought, 

And  stripped  the  naked  of  their  clothing. 

Thou  hast  not  given  water  to  the  weary 
to  drink, 

And  thou  hast  withholden  bread  from 
the  hungry  .  .  . 

Thou  hast  sent  widows  away  empty, 

And  the  arms  of  the  fatherless  have  been 

broken. 

[55] 


^ 


By    whom  ?    .   .   . 

fiercely  on  Job) 
By  thee,  O  righteous  Jobl 

sarcastic) . 
O  Job,  Job,  be  sensible! 

Most  of  the  fatherless  children 
in  Palestine,  if  they  have  nobody 
to  look  after  them,  go  about  the 
streets  with  an  outstretched  arm, 
begging.  To  break  such  an  arm 
would  be  a  terrible  sin.  Eliphaz 
charges  Job  with  such  a  sin. 
Therefore,  he  declares,  snares  are 
round  about  Job  and  darkness 
has  enveloped  him. 

In  short,  sin,  according  to  Eli- 
phaz, is  the  direct  cause  of  Job^s 
misery.  And  as  a  last  advice  he 
exhorts  him  to  acquaint  himself 
with  God  and  be  at  peace.  He 
can  never  delight  himself  in  the 
Almighty  and  lift  up  his  face  unto 
him  unless  he  has  taken  him  as  his 
treasure.  God  saves  the  humble 
person,  the  one  who  has  none  of 
the  above  six  charges  against  his 

[56] 


-J '  -'•  _ — Tt ■ 

^fl 

HMft^     ;.  •■  ■ 

'\X 

'  ^ 

'  ■  ;%• 

%>*  • 

.     -^v- 

4 

s 

-:^ 

^/l 

^ 

p' 

'  #      ^ 

^ 

-Si:"*                                    - 

ifMj 

tt 

'. 

*     ' 

i. 

AN   OLD-TIME   PICTURE 

character,  but  who  bows  his  head 
submissively  to  God's  visitations, 
never  doubting  his  justice,  never 
questioning.  That  is  the  philoso- 
phy of  Eliphaz. 

THE   SPEECHES   OF  BILDAD 

Bildad's  opening  speech  (ch.  8 :) 
like  that  of  Eliphaz,  is  devoid 
of  any  direct  attacks  or  even 
stinging  expressions.  Its  burden 
is  that  God  will  not  uphold  the 
evil-doer,  but  he  will  awake  for 
the  pure  and  upright.  If  Job, 
instead  of  complaining,  were  to 
seek  diUgently  unto  God,  surely 
he  would  make  him  prosperous, 
for  the  Almighty  will  not  cast 
away  a  perfect  man. 

Furthermore,  Bildad  invites  Job 
to  cast  a  glance  over  the  past 
ages  with  the  intent  of  deriving 
some  helpful  lesson  from  the  ac- 
cumulated experiences  of  those 
who  came  before  him,  ^'  for  we  are 
but  of  yesterday  and  know  noth- 

[o7] 


OUR  MAN  OF  PATIENCE 

ing."  To  him  the  past  teaches 
that  "  the  hope  of  the  godless  man 
shall  perish/^ 

In  his  second  speech  (ch.  18) 
Bildad  harps  on  the  same  string 
on  which  Ehphaz  had  harped  in 
his  second  speech.  Only  his  pic- 
ture of  the  wicked  man  is  worse 
than  that  of  EHphaz.  His  words 
are  full  of  venom.  One  can  easily 
imagine  Bildad  half-standing  in 
the  midst  of  a  large  circle  of 
boisterously-clapping  young  men, 
his  eyes  set  fiercely  on  Job,  his 
head  shaking  at  him,  and  the 
tambourine  quivering  and  tinkling 
in  his  left  hand  above  his  head  as 
he  sings: 

The  light  of  the  wicked  shall  be  put  out. 
The  spark  of  his  fire  shall  not  shine. 
The  light  shall  be  dark  in  his  tent  .  .  . 
A  gin  shall  take  him  by  the  heels. 
A  snare  shall  lay  hold  on  him  .  .  . 
Terrors  shall  make  him  afraid  on  every 

side  .  .  . 
He  shall   have  neither 
.  .  18  :  5-19. 
[68] 


AN  OLD-TIME  PICTURE 


What  could  be  more  rasping  to 
Job  than  such  a  worse-than-direct 
denunciation?  Every  hne  breathes 
the  spirit  of  vindictiveness.  Most 
likely  Ehphaz  and  Bildad  had 
agreed  beforehand  on  the  best 
way  to  torment  the  proud  spirit 
of  the  old  poet  by  whom  they  had 
been  defeated  in  many  previous 
contests.  A  better  opportunity 
they  cannot  expect  to  have,  now 
that  the  hand  of  God  is  upon 
him. 

What  deserves  particular  notice 
in  Bildad^s  description  of  the 
wicked  man  is  v.  19,  ''  He  shall 
have  neither  son  nor  son^s  son 
among  his  people.''  No  worse 
calamity  could  befall  a  native  of 
Palestine  than  to  be  childless. 
You  hear  it  said  everywhere  in 
Syria,  "  One's  happiness  consists 
in  the  number  of  children  he  has." 
A  childless  person  is  pitied  by 
every  body,  and  on  every  occasion 
when  a  good  wish  is  not  considered 

159] 


M^swm 


OUR     MAN     OF    PATIENCE 

out  of  place  you  hear  people  say, 
**  We  hope  that  God  will  send  him 
a  son/'  Even  if  he  offer  a  glass  of 
water  to  a  passerby,  the  glass  will 
be  returned  with  the  almost  too- 
frequent  wish,  ^'  We  hope  that 
God  will  send  you  a  son/'  In  a 
land  such  as  Palestine  where  mar- 
riage is  looked  forward  to  as  the 
chief  occasion  of  one's  happiness, 
and  where  wedding  festivities 
sometimes  continue  for  a  whole 
week  during  which  old  and  young 
participate  in  eating,  drinking  and 
singing,  and  where  the  son  is 
called  the  staff  upon  which  the 
father  leans  in  his  last  days,  — 
in  such  a  land  it  is  no  marvel  that 
an  impUed  imprecation  like  Bil- 
dad's  should  have  stabbed  Job 
through  the  heart. 

Bildad's  third  and  last  speech 
(ch.  25)  is  very  short.  It  is  a 
song  of  praise  and  has  nothing 
to  do  with  Job. 


AN  OLD-TIME  PICTURE 

THE   SPEECH   OF  ZOPHAR 

Zophar  sings  twice  only.  The 
points  of  similarity  between  Zo- 
phar's  first  speech  (ch.  11)  and  that 
of  Bildad  are  quite  apparent.  Both 
stanchly  beheve  that  suffering 
is  God's  immediate  punishment 
for  sin,  and  both  advise  Job  to 
Uft  up  his  face  toward  God  in  the 
spirit  of  contrition. 

In  his  second  speech  (ch.  20) 
Zophar  also,  hke  Bildad,  occupies 
himself  with  such  a  graphic  and 
bitter  description  of  the  mcked 
as  would  not  fail  to  send  shivers 
down  a  sinner's  back.  He  must 
have  followed  Bildad's  example  in 
the  manner  of  delivery  and  the 
tone  of  voice. 

It  is  noteworthy  that  Zophar 
reflects  more  plainly  than  his  two 
friends  the  prevaiUng  belief  of  the 
East  when  he  sings : 

The  triumphing  of  the  wicked  is  short 
And  the  joy  of  the  godless  but  for 
moment. 

161 


^i: 


I 


No  matter  how  materially  pros- 
perous a  man  may  be,  though  he 
be  the  wealthiest  individual  in 
the  world,  if,  according  to  the 
dictum  of  pubUc  opinion,  the  fear 
of  God  is  not  holding  perfect  sway 
in  his  heart,  then  surely  a  time  will 
come  when  ''  he  shall  fly  away  as  a 
dream,  and  shall  not  be  found; 
yea,  he  shall  be  chased  away  as  a 
vision  of  the  night.  .  .  .  His  chil- 
dren shall  seek  the  favor  of  the 
poor.  ...  He  shall  suck  the 
poison  of  asps.  .  .  .  When  he  is 
about  to  fill  his  belly,  God  will 
cast  the  fierceness  of  his  wrath 
upon  him,  and  will  rain  it  upon 
him  while  he  is  eating.'^  Not 
only  the  earth,  but  ^'  the  heavens 
shall  reveal  his  iniquity.'' 

Summing  up :  —  The  three 
friends  believed  that  the  wicked, 
doubtless,  received  his  punishment 
for  sin  while  his  eyes  were  still 
open  to  this  visible  world.  Very 
likely  it  never  crossed  their  minds, 

[62 


WHEREFORE    HIDEST   THOU    THY    FACET 

Job  13:24 


AN  OLD-TIME  PICTURE 

while  they  were  singing,  that  there 
was  such  a  thing  as  a  resurrection 
with  the  possibiUty  of  retribution. 
Therefore,  they  attributed  Job's 
sufferings  to  a  wilful  wickedness  in 
his  own  Uf e  which  he  was  unwilling 
to  confess. 

THE   SPEECHES   OF  JOB 

What  Job  says  to  the  so-called 
three  friends  may  be  summed  up 
in  a  few  words  —  ^^  There  is  not  a 
wise  man  among  you:  you  are  all 
forgers  of  lies,  ^physicians  of  no 
value,  artful  hypocrites.  I  know 
you !  Do  you  wish  that  God  should 
lay  open  your  hearts  before  this 
assemblage  of  men  and  search 
you  out?  You  cannot  deceive 
him."  —  (See  13  : 1-12  and  17  : 
10.) 

Therefore,  judging  from  Job's 
words,  EUphaz,  Bildad  and  Zophar 
cannot  be  considered  true  friends 
of  Job,  for  the  lack  of  sympathy 
they    have   betrayed   is    directly 


OUR  MAN  OF  PATIENCE 

opposed  to  the  right  spirit  of 
Oriental  friendship  and  cannot  be 
tolerated  for  a  single  moment 
inside  its  shrine.  In  reality,  the 
three  friends  are  three  poets  who 
have  had  more  than  one  encounter 
with  Job  in  days  past  and  have 
been  badly  defeated,  and  now, 
having  heard  that  the  old  poet  has 
been  at  last  afflicted  by  God,  they 
call  upon  him  to  rub  some  salt 
into  his  breaking  boils. 

Having  thus  cleared  the  way  we 
can  now  proceed  to  what  Job  says 
regarding  his  relation  to  God. 
This  embraces  the  main  section  of 
Job's  speeches,  and  it  contains  the 
object  for  which  the  Book  of  Job 
exists.  The  visit  of  the  three 
friends  is  simply  an  incidental 
means  which  brings  w^hat  the  vexed 
old  poet  has  to  say  about  God  into 
bold  relief. 

The  distinctive  voice  of  the 
Orient  in  Job's  days  is  that  of 
rigid,  blind,  childish  conservatism. 

[641 


AN  OLD-TIME  PICTURE 

It  is  a  voice  which  solemnly  in- 
forms the  race  that  their  Creator  is 
the  Absolute,  who  demands  from 
them  incessant  worship  in  child- 
hke  faith  and  whose  doings  are 
never  to  be  questioned.  It  is  the 
voice  which  Moses  heard  in  the 
midst  of  the  inspiring  solitude 
of  Sinai  saying,  "  Draw  not  nigh 
hither." 

But  Job,  in  many  respects, 
voices  the  spirit  of  an  advanced 
age,  probably  an  age  of  transition. 
His  voice  is  the  voice  of  rebeUion: 
it  is  the  united  voice  of  millions  of 
Jobs  all  over  the  world,  who,  al- 
though Hving  up  to  the  best  known 
standards  of  righteousness,  and 
striving  to  become  as  perfect  as 
God  is,  are  still  mercilessly  visited 
by  some  of  the  most  malignant 
diseases  known.  It  is  the  voice 
of  the  Occident,  the  voice  of  the 
enlightened  section  of  humanity, 
who  would  Uke  to  probe  into  the 
mysteries  of  the  spiritual  world 

[651 


OUR  MAN  OF  PATIENCE 

hoping  to  discover  what  may 
strengthen  their  faith  and  brighten 
their  outlook. 

Three  points  stand  out  pre- 
eminently in  Job's  speeches  re- 
garding his  relation  to  God  — 
1^  Job's  integrity,  God's  wrath,  and 
•^•^^     JoVs  longing  for  an  intercessor. 

1.  JoVs  integrity.  The  testi- 
mony of  the  writer  of  the  Prologue 
regarding  Job's  life  is  enviable. 
He  says,  "And  that  man  (Job) 
was  perfect  and  upright,  and  one 
that  feared  God,  and  turned  away 
from  evil"  (1:1).  No  weight 
can  be  justly  attached  to  the 
testimony  of  the  three  friends  re- 
garding Job's  character  for,  as 
we  have  seen,  they  are  malicious 
enemies,  "  forgers  of  lies." 

Job  himself  says  a  great  deal 
about  his  own  integrity,  or  the 
uprightness  of  his  life.  That  is 
really  the  rock  on  which  he  stands. 
We  have  no  reason  to  doubt  his 
assertion  of  his  own  righteousness. 

[661 


^^^ 


t 


>f%*x 

"^  — — ~~ 

»■      »  a^"  " 

^11 

^Ei 

fl^^^r^-pr ' 

'^^S^lifc:^, 

^MHhi^^^ 

&> 

POVERTY 

Job  29: 16 


I^^Sc?^^  WM^^^^^' 


AN  OLD-TIME  PICTURE 


It  is  the  consciousness  of  his 
having  walked  in  God^s  straight 
paths  which  gives  him  such  fluency 
of  speech  and  inflexibility  of  bear- 
ing in  this  great  poetical  contest. 
He  can  fearlessly  raise  himself  a 
little  on  the  mizbeleh  and  say  to 
God,  "  I  will  speak  ...  I  will 
complain  in  the  bitterness  of  my 
soul.  Am  I  a  sea,  or  a  sea  monster, 
that  thou  settest  a  watch  over 
me?  .  .  .  Let  me  alone  for  my 
days  are  vanity.  Why  hast  thou 
set  me  as  a  mark  for  thee?  '* 
(7  :  11--20).  And  he  can  look  in 
the  face  the  people  who  are  Usten- 
ing  to  him  and  declare,  "  For 
he  (God)  breaketh  me  with  a 
tempest,  and  multiplieth  my 
wounds  without  cause  ...  7  am 
perfect  "  (9  :  17-21).  And  then, 
pointing  with  his  finger  to  heaven, 
he  can  also  assert "  But  he  knoweth 
the  way  I  take;  when  he  hath 
tried  me,  I  shall  come  forth  as 
gold ''(23: 10). 


OUR     MAN     OF     PATIENCE 


It  is  necessary  here  to  be  re- 
minded that  what  is  meant  in  the 
Book  of  Job  by  the  words  right- 
eousness, perfection  and  integrity 
is  not  exactly  what  is  meant  by 
them  in  our  day.  Here  is  what 
they  mean,  in  Job's  own  words : 

I  delivered  the  poor  that  cried, 

The  fatherless  also,  that  had  none  to 

help  them  .   .   . 
I  caused  the  widow's  heart  to  sing  for 

joy   .   .   . 
My  justice  was  as  a  robe  and  a  diadem. 
I  was  eyes  to  the  blind, 
And  feet  was  I  to  the  lame. 
I  was  a  father  to  the  needy: 
And  the  cause  of  him  that  I  knew  not  I 

searched  out. 
And  I  brake  the  jaws  of  the  unrighteous, 
And  plucked  the  prey  out  of  his  teeth 

(29:12-17). 


Job's  perfection  was  measured 
by  the  standards  of  his  age,  when 
the  plucking  of  the  prey  out  of  the 
teeth  of  a  neighbor  universally 
known  as  godless  was  considered 
a  righteous  act.     The  highly  re- 

[68: 


AN  OLD-TIME  PICTURE 


fined  element  of  subjective  holi- 
ness involved  in  the  word  perfec- 
tion in  later  Christian  usage,  espe- 
cially in  such  places  as  Matt. 
5  :  48,  never  occurred  to  Job  or  to 
any  of  his  contemporaries. 

Furthermore,  it  was  a  common 
belief  in  Job^s  day  that  God  was 
against  the  wicked  to  destroy  him 
and  with  the  righteous  to  make  him 
prosperous,  that  ''terrors  shall 
make  the  wicked  afraid  on  every 
side  "  (18  :  11),  and  ''  his  offspring 
shall  not  be  satisfied  with  bread 
(27  :  14),  "  yet  shall  the  righteous 
hold  on  his  way,  and  he  that  hath 
clean  hands  shall  wax  stronger 
and  stronger  "  (17  :  9). 

Thus  Job  has  a  very  important 
complaint  to  make  against  God. 
He  says,  "  Behold  now,  I  have  set 
my  cause  in  order;  I  know  that 
I  am  righteous  ''  (13  :  18).  There- 
fore, I  have  right  to  expect  kind- 
ness from  my  God.  But,  on  the 
contrary, 


OUR  MAN  OF  PATIENCE 

He  hath  taken  me  by  the  neck  and 

dashed  me  to  pieces: 
He  hath  also  set  me  up  for  his  mark  .  .  . 
He  cleaveth  my  reins  asunder  .  .  . 
He    breaketh    me    with    breach    upon 

breach; 
He  runneth  upon  me  Kke  a  giant  .  .  . 
My  face  is  red  with  weeping 
And  on  my  eyehds  is  the  shadow  of 

death; 
Although  there  is  no  violence  in  my 

hands, 
And  my  prayer  is  pure  (16  :  12-17). 

Viewed  from  Job's  standpoint 
and  judged  by  the  common  stand- 
ards of  his  time,  the  complaint 
is  just.  A  righteous  man,  whose 
mind  has  not  yet  been  irradiated 
by  the  glorious  light  of  immortal- 
ity, naturally  expects  some  com- 
pensation for  his  righteous  acts  of 
self-denial  in  this  visible  world. 
If  not,  what  could  then  be  the 
reward  of  righteousness? 

And  not  only  that,  but  what 
vexes  Job  still  more  is  the  persecu- 
tion  he   has   been   receiving   at 

170] 


I 


AN   OLD-TIME  PICTURE 

the  hands    of    the    wicked.     He 
says: 

I  am  as  one    that  is  a  laughing-stock 

to  his  neighbor, 
I  who  called  upon  God,  and  he  answered: 
The  just,  the  perfect  man  is  a  laughing- 
stock (12  : 4). 

Also: 

But  he  hath  made  me  a  byword  of  the 
people; 

And  they  spit  in  my  face  (17  :  6). 

They  abhor  me,  they  stand  aloof  from 
me. 

And  spare  not  to  spit  in  my  face  .  .  . 

They  thrust  aside  my  feet  .  .  . 

In  the  midst  of  the  ruin  they  roll  them- 
selves upon  me  (30  :  10-14). 

It  is  not  an  uncommon  sight  to 
see  in  some  Oriental  city  a  crowd 
of  mischievous  children  following 
an  idiot  in  the  streets  and  amusing 
themselves  by  tormenting  him. 
They  would  throw  water  on  him, 
spit  on  his  face,  push  each  other 
on  him,  thrust  their  feet  between 
his  feet  while  he  was  walking,  to 
trip  him  and  make  him  fall,  and 


^tfwmm^^^i^^. 


use  all  imaginable  sorts  of  tricks 
to  tease  what  little  there  was  of 
mind  out  of  him.  That  was  the 
chief  reason  why  in  Christ^s  day 
most  of  the  idiots,  believed  then 
to  be  possessed  by  evil  spirits, 
sought  cemeteries  and  secluded 
places  in  the  wilderness  and  lived 
far  away  from  the  abodes  of  men. 
Doubtless  Job,  in  the  eyes  of  his 
unenlightened  neighbors,  is  no  bet- 
ter than  those  idiots,  and,  there- 
fore, deserves  as  hard  a  persecu- 
tion. One  can  easily  imagine  him 
lying  on  the  mizhelehy  his  body 
covered  with  sores,  and  warding 
off  with  his  hands  the  attacks  of  a 
large  circle  of  street  boys.  They 
would  hurl  themselves  on  him, 
spit  on  his  face,  drag  him  here  and 
there  from  behind  by  his  robe, 
shake  their  heads  at  him  in  de- 
rision, throw  lizards  and  frogs 
on  his  neck,  and  torment  him  as 
much  as  they  could.  Would  one 
then  blame  Job  if  he  should  cry, 

1721 


i^mn'^^m^s^mi 


AN  OLD-TIME  PICTURE 


Therefore  I  will  not  refrain  my  mouth; 
I  will  speak  in  the  anguish  of  my  spirit; 
I  will  complain  in  the  bitterness  of  my 
soul?  (7  :  11). 

Or  if  he  should  groan 

Even  if  it  would  please  God  to  crush 
me?  (6  :  9). 

To  suffer  physical  pain  and  to 
become  at  the  same  time  the 
laughing-stock  of  his  people,  is 
more  than  Job  can  bear  without 
complaining;  or,  in  other  words, 
without  seeking  to  know  from  God 
the  exact  reason  for  such  unde- 
served treatment. 

2.  God^s  wrath.  There  was  once 
a  boy  in  one  of  the  British  Mis- 
sion schools  on  Mt.  Lebanon, 
Syria,  who  was  entirely  different 
from  any  other  boy  in  that  school. 
His  massive  head,  ample  in  front, 
indicated  that  he  was  by  no  means 
lacking  in  brain  matter.  But  he 
was  as  changeable  as  the  American 
weather.  One  hour  he  would  be 
laughing  hilariously  as  though  he 

[73] 


OUR     MAN     OF     PATIENCE 


R  had  been  transported  in  spirit  into 
Paradise  and  made  to  taste  the 
water  of  the  elysian  springs  of  God, 
and  another  hour  he  would  go 
about  with  a  downcast  counte- 
nance, moody,  moping,  as  though 
an  avalanche  of  trouble  had  burst 
upon  him  and  buried  him  alive. 
One  day  he  would  be  a  Christian 
strolling  about  the  school  grounds 
shouting  halleluiah;  another  day, 
a  sneaky  deceitful  devil  sneering 
at  everything  that  savored  of 
religion. 

But  the  interesting  feature  in 
that  fickle  boy  was  the  cause  which 
he  always  gave  for  such  frequent 
changes  in  his  Ufe.  It  was  not 
II  uncommon  to  hear  him  say  to  some 
"  teacher  who  had  shown  loving 
interest  in  his  spiritual  welfare 
something  like  the  following: 

^'  What  is  the  use  of  my  being 
religious?  If  I  am  converted  or 
not  you  punish  me  just  the  same. 
Surely  you  harbor  some  grudge 

174] 


AN      OLD-TIME      PICTURE 

against  me/'  Then,  frowning 
fiercely,  he  would  add:  "You 
treat  the  bad  boys  better  than  me. 
No  more  religion  for  me!  To 
become  a  Christian  means  nothing 
more  than  to  become  a  target  for 
the  whimsical  teachers." 

Job's  state  of  mind  at  this  stage 
of  his  affliction  is  exactly  similar 
to  that  of  the  Syrian  boy  during 
bis  season  of  gloom.  After  long 
reflection  Job  arrives  at  the  start- 
ling conclusion  that  God  has  been 
holding  him  for  his  enemy  (13  :  24; 
16  :  12;  19  :  11),  and  that,  like 
human  beings,  the  Almighty  is 
passing  through  a  fit  of  unac- 
countable anger  (14  :  13;  19  :  11). 
It  can  not  be  otherwise.  Job  argues 
to  himself,  for  were  not  God  angry 
iand  in  a  highly  strained  state  of 
mind,  he  would  not  treat  me  so 
arbitrarily,  inquiring  after  mine 
iniquity  although  he  knows  I  am 
not  wicked. 

Then  it  is  that  Job  flings  out 

175) 


OUR     MAN    OF    PATIENCE 


his  arms  in  a  gesture  of    utter 
helplessness  and  sings: 
If  I  be  wicked,  woe  unto  me; 
And  if  I  be  righteous,  yet  shall  I  not 
Hftupmy  head  (10:14,  15). 

When  God  is  angry  he  becomes 
like  an  Oriental  despot:  neither 
good  nor  bad  acts  can  succeed  in 
coaxing  a  smile  to  his  face.  His 
actions  become  more  or  less  arbi- 
trary, for  ''He  is  in  one  mind,  and 
who  can  turn  him?  and  what  his 
soul  desireth,  even  that  he  doeth" 
(23: 13.)  He  might  do  something 
of  which,  like  men.  He  would  later 
repent.  Hence  the  much  debated 
repentance  of  God  mentioned  in 
the  Old  Testament  (Ex.  32:14; 
2  Sam.  24:16;  1  Chr.  21:15; 
Jer.  26:19). 

In  order  to  hasten  the  passing 
away  of  the  dangerous  frown  from 
God's  face,  Orientals  resort  to 
offerings  and  sacrifices.  For  as  the 
child  will  not  wipe  off  its  tears 
unless  it  sees  a  basket  of  oranges 

[76] 


placed  before  it,  so  God,  the 
Oriental  mind  argues,  will  not 
smile  benignantly  again  unless 
the  sinner  shows  a  spirit  of  real 
generosity.  A  Moses  would  hasten 
to  offer  a  sacrifice,  fully  convinced 
that  nothing  could  appease  the 
flashing  anger  of  the  Deity  like  the 
traditional  smell  of  burning  flesh. 
Another  Oriental  would  run  toward 
God's  tabernacle  with  a  basket 
of  first-fruits  or  a  sack  of  wheat. 
But  what  does  our  Man  of 
Patience  do?  Instead  of  resorting 
to  offerings  he  looks  up  toward 
heaven  and  prays: 

Oh  that  thou  wouldst  hide  me  in  Sheol, 
That    thou    wouldst    keep    me    secret, 

until  thy  wrath  be  past, 
That  thou  wouldst  appoint  me  a  set 

time,  and  remember  me!     (14  :  13.) 

In  the  midst  of  the  terrific  storm 
which  he  now  finds  raging  around 
him,  with  Ughtning  flashing  and 
thunder  pealing  and  the  wind  of 
God's  wrath  blowing  with  titanic 

[77] 


Ji^ 


^^^f^^^i^m 


OUR  MAN  OF  PATIENCE 

force,  the  old  poet,  unwilling  to 
forsake  his  hitherto  unfailing 
Refuge,  prays  that  he  should  be 
hid  in  some  dark  cavern  where  he 
could  Ue  secure  until  God's  wrath 
be  past.  What  a  splendid  faith! 
It  recalls  to  mind  the  faith  of  an 
old  Syrian  who  died  a  few  years 
ago.  As  he  sat  one  day,  bUnd, 
in  the  corner  of  a  dark  room  on 
Mt.  Lebanon,  a  Christian  lady 
approached  him  and  said,  "  How 
are  you? "  He  raised  his  head 
and  stared  vacantly  in  her  direc- 
tion with  eyes  which  had  not  per- 
ceived daylight  for  five  years  and 
said: 

"What  shall  I  answer?  My 
world  is  pitch-dark.  But  I  see 
with  my  mind's  eye  a  rope  extend- 
ing from  my  room  to  the  Mercy- 
seat.  I  hold  that  rope  fast  with 
both  these  weak  hands  of  mine 
day  and  night.  I  never  dare  let 
that  hold  go." 

Then  after  the  storm  of  God's 

[781 


AN  OLD-TIME  PICTURE 

wrath  is  past  He  would  remember 
Job  and  smile  again  at  him  in 
loving  kindness. 

It  is  at  this  point  that  Job^s 
character  shines  with  dazzling 
splendor.  It  is  this  cleaving  of 
the  world-famed  Holy-Land  poet 
unto  his  integrity  that  has  im- 
mortaUzed  his  name  and  made 
his  patience  proverbial.  Read  the 
following  utterances  of  his  and 
marvel: 

Behold  he  will  slay  me;  I  have  no  hope: 
Nevertheless  I  will  maintain  my  ways 
before  him  (13  :  15). 

Also: 

Till  I  die  I  will  not  put  away  mine 

integrity  from  me. 
My  righteousness  I  hold  fast,  and  will 

not  let  it  go  (27  :5,6). 

Job  knows  that  he  is  righteous, 
and  he  will  not  for  a  single  moment 
tolerate  any  idea  of  ever  forsaking 
his  righteousness.  That  is  to  him 
the  '^  goodly  pearl "  whose  price 
is  far  above  the  price  of  any  jewel 

179] 


OUR  MAN  OF  PATIENCE 

this  world  possesses,  and  no  power 
in  heaven  or  earth  shall  ever 
succeed  in  wresting  it  away  from 
him.  The  world  may  persecute 
him  and  spit  in  his  face,  disease 
may  eat  up  his  flesh  and  drive 
away  sleep  from  his  eyes  and  terrify 
him  by  all  kinds  of  hideous  spec- 
tres, and  God  may  take  him  by 
the  neck  and  dash  him  to  pieces, 
but  that  pearl  shall  never  be  suf- 
fered to  part  from  him.  He  clasps 
it  and  presses  it  to  his  heart  with 
all  his  power.  He  will  guard  it 
against  the  powers  of  darkness 
just  as  a  Uoness  would  guard  her 
whelps  against  the  boldest  hun- 
ters. That  is  the  virginal  chastity 
of  his  whole  existence  and  he  will 
defend  it  unto  death.  Heaven 
being  obscured  on  account  of  God's 
anger,  that  pearl  is  the  sufferer's 
only  hope,  the  brilliant  star  that 
still  shines  through  a  rift  in  the 
dark  clouds.  (Read  Ro.  8  :  38, 
39  and  compare.) 

180] 


y] 


I 


o 


A    DAUGHTER    OF   JOB 


v>si!0^*n»  d^t^^^«  *»v*^^  v'^^i^  ^^kij^4t  •tx^^^^jjfi^ 


AN  OLD-TIME  PICTURE 

3.  JoVs  longing  for  an  inter- 
cessor. If  there  be  a  land  on  the 
surface  of  this  globe  which  has  an 
indisputable  right  to  be  called  the 
Land  of  Intercession  it  is  the  Holy 
Land.  An  investigator  will  be 
amazed  to  see  the  place  interces- 
sion holds  in  the  Uf e  of  the  Syrians. 
Almost  everything  needs  an  inter- 
cessor or  a  go-between.  The  doc- 
trine of  intercession  or  mediation 
on  which  hinges  our  salvation  is 
the  spontaneous  expression  of  the 
very  spirit  of  the  Holy  Land,  if 
one  may  be  safely  allowed  to  de- 
tach it  from  the  realm  of  direct 
inspiration.  Or,  in  other  words, 
the  Bible,  being  the  inspired  ex- 
pression of  the  real  life  of  the 
Hebrews,  gives  a  very  prominent 
and  essential  place  to  intercession 
in  the  magnificent  structure  of 
Christianity.  Intercession  is  indig- 
enous to  the  Holy  Land  and  was 
made  use  of  by  God  in  the  reveal- 
ing of  his  plan  of  salvation. 

181] 


For  illustration.  Two  men 
quarrel  and  are  summoned  to  ap- 
pear before  the  local  representa- 
tive of  the  government,  called 
rnudeer,  for  a  short  informal  in- 
vestigation preparatory  to  sending 
them  to  court.  Each  of  these 
two  men  hands  the  mudeer  a 
number  of  letters  of  intercession 
from  important  men  to  whose 
influence  with  the  Pasha,  it  very 
often  happens,  the  mudeer  owes 
the  very  position  he  now  holds. 
What  can  the  mudeer  do  in  such  a 
dilemma?  In  order  not  to  dis- 
please any  of  the  intercessors  he 
very  often  resorts  to  reconciling 
the  two  offenders  and  sending  them 
back  to  their  homes.  A  Lebanon 
judge  once  said  that  not  a  day 
passes  without  his  receiving  a 
number  of  letters  of  that  kind,  and 
sometimes,  that  is  the  only  mail 
he  receives.  You  may  be  stop- 
ping at  a  store  in  Beirut  to  buy 
a  Turkish  rug,  and  while  going 

1821 


AN  OLD-TIME  PICTURE 

through  the  undesirable  ordeal  of 
bargaining  and  beating  down  the 
price  to  the  just  limit,  a  stranger 
may  step  in  and  say  to  the  store- 
keeper, "  For  my  sake  let  him  have 
it  at  such  and  such  a  price,''  or 
he  may  say  to  you,  "  For  my  sake 
pay  him  so  much/' 

Coming  to  Job  we  find  him  at 
the  darkest  stage  in  his  affliction 
longing  for  an  intercessor.  The 
natural  desire  for  a  go-between  in 
this  Oriental  poet  springs  up  to 
the  surface  when  it  is  most  needed. 
God  is  against  him,  the  world  is 
against  him,  his  friends,  and  even 
his  wife,  are  against  him,  and 
suddenly  he  sees  a  vision,  —  how, 
nobody  knows,  —  that  of  an  um- 
pire laying  his  hand  upon  God  and 
him  (9  :  33),  of  a  witness  vouching 
for  him  on  high  (16  :  19),  yea, 
rather  of  a  living  Redeemer,who 
wdll  one  day  stand  on  this  earth 
to  be  seen  by  those  who  love  him 
(19  :25,26). 


OUR  MAN  OF  PATIENCE 


lil 


All  Old  Testament  scholars  ad- 
mit that  the  Hebrew  text  of 
19  :  25,  26  is  almost  irremediably 
corrupt  and  that  attempts  at  re- 
construction by  German  scholars 
have  only  increased  the  jumble. 
But  in  the  midst  of  that  heap  of 
Textual  ruin  glitters  the  word 
goely  a  priceless  jewel  of  unparal- 
leled beauty,  which  ought  to  be 
held  up  at  arm's  length  that  all  the 
world  may  see  it.  Whether  it 
means  redeemer,  or  vindicator, 
or  any  other  similar  appellative, 
it  means  to  the  Syrians  the  em- 
bodiment of  that  ever-swelling 
hope  for  an  umpire,  or  a  witness, 
or  a  go-between,  who  will  stand 
between  God  and  man  and  effect 
a  reconciliation. 

In  fact,  this  word  goel  revives  the 
spirits  of  millions  of  mourners  by 
the  tombs  of  their  beloved  ones, 
turns  over  a  leaf  in  God's  book  of 
evolution,  and  sounds  a  note  of 
victory.  The   sentiment   that   lies 

[84 


AN  OLD-TIME  PICTURE 


behind  the  remarkable  assertion 
^'  I  know  that  my  Redeemer 
liveth ''  has  not  been  fully  ex- 
pressed by  Handel  nor  by  any 
other  musical  or  poetical  composer. 
A  minute  ago  Job  was  groaning  in 
the  lowest  depths  of  despair  and 
saying  concerning  God,  ''  He  hath 
broken  me  down  on  every  side, 
and  I  am  gone;  and  my  hope 
hath  he  plucked  up  like  a  tree '' 
(19  :  10),  and  now  he  suddenly 
raises  himself  up  on  the  mizbeleh, 
his  face  shining  hke  that  of  Moses 
when  he  came  down  from  Sinai, 
and  shouts,  "  I  know  that  my 
Redeemer  liveth."  That  is  in- 
spiration. That  is  how  God  some- 
times reveals  his  truths  to  man. 

At  this  point  one  may  justly 
ask.  What  is  Job^s  attitude  toward 
immortaUty?  A  thorough  perusal 
of  Job's  utterances  will  reveal  the 
fact  that  the  suffering  poet,  al- 
though ahead  of  his  three  friends 
and  possibly  of  all  the  illustrious 


OUR  MAN  OF  PATIENCE 


men  of  his  day  in  keenness  of  mind 
and  breadth  of  spiritual  vision, 
shares  with  them  at  the  beginning 
of  the  poetical  contest  the  primi- 
tive beUef  that  death  ends  all 
activity.  "  There  the  wicked 
cease  from  troubling,  and  there 
the  weary  are  at  rest"  (3  :  17). 
''  As  the  cloud  is  consumed  and 
vanisheth  away,  so  he  that  goeth 
down  to  Sheol  shall  come  up  no 
more ''(7:  9). 

As  the  contest  advances  Job 
begins  to  perceive  a  gUmmer  of 
light  ahead.  His  thoughts  are  a 
little  confused  in  regard  to  the 
after-death  fate  of  the  soul.  One 
minute  he  asserts  that  the  dead 
shall  not  awake  nor  ever  be  roused 
from  their  sleep,  and  another 
minute  he  asks  hesitatingly,  with 
his  eyes  strained  to  catch  the  faint 
twinkling  of  a  far-away  star,  "  If 
a  man  die  shall  he  live  again?  " 
He  is  feeling  his  way  slowly  to  the 
mountain-top.      He    is    still    en- 


veloped  in  the  annoying  mist  of 
uncertainty.  Every  now  and  then 
a  thunder-clap  shakes  the  very 
ground  under  his  feet,  thus  threat- 
ening to  send  him  rolhng  down 
to  the  bottom  of  some  dark  abyss. 
But  he  presses  on,  undaunted  by 
the  raging  forces  of  doubt  and  the 
achings  of  his  own  body,  until  at 
last  he  reaches  the  top.  Soon 
the  clouds  break  up  and  begin  to 
retreat  downward,  bringing  into 
view  a  bright  sky  studded  with 
myriads  of  stars.  Inspiration 
again.  There,  just  above  the  hori- 
zon, the  victorious  poet  sees  the 
Star  of  Immortality,  the  sight  of 
which  revives  his  dying  spirit  and 
gives  him  fresh  vigor  to  combat 
the  horrible  disease  which  has 
been  harrowing  his  flesh.  He 
exclaims: 

But  as  for  me  I  know  that  my  Re- 
deemer liveth, 

And  at  last  he  will  stand  up  upon  the 
earth : 

187] 


^^ifCf^^tlC?^ 


OVU  MAN  OF  PATIENCE 

And  after  my  skin,  even  this  body,  is 

destroyed, 
Then  without  my  flesh  shall  I  see  God. 

Thanks  to  suffering.  Had  it 
not  been  for  the  elephantiasis 
Job  might  never  have  seen  that 
vision.  From  the  abject  mizbeleh 
of  scorn  to  the  mountain-top  of 
inspiration,  from  the  raging  tem- 
pest of  physical  pain  to  the  balmy 
breeze  of  heaUng,  from  the  cleav- 
ing unto  an  imperfect  integrity 
to  the  beholding  of  Heaven's  tran- 
scendent perfection  —  that  is  the 
glorious  course.  But  through  it 
all  Job's  integrity  shines  like  a 
star  of  the  first  magnitude. 

There  is  hardly  anything  new 
in  what  Job  says  after  he  has  seen 
the  Star  of  ImmortaUty.  The 
swelUng  tide  of  his  thoughts 
reaches  its  highest  watermark  in 
19  :  25,  26. 

At  last  the  voluble  poet  lays 
down  the  tambourine.  The  three 
friends  are  silent,  manifesting  all 

1881 


AN  OLD-TIME  PICTURE 


signs  that  they  have  been  van- 
quished. Job^s  audacity  and  ve- 
hemence of  expression,  backed  by 
an  unusually  strong  personaUty, 
have  been  more  than  a  match  to 
their  Umited  resources. 

Then  a  young  man,  EHhu  by 
name,  steps  forward  and  answers 
Job.  But  the  old  poet  does  not 
pay  the  least  attention  to  him,  for 
after  defeating  the  three  older 
poets  it  would  be  far  below  his 
dignity  to  break  a  lance  with  a 
young  man. 

As  EHhu  is  about  to  lay  down 
the  tambourine  a  flash  of  Hghtning 
turns  all  eyes  southward.  A  fear- 
ful crash  of  thunder  follows.  Dark 
clouds  are  stirring  heavily  in  the 
south,  their  direction  being  evi- 
dently northward.  A  thunder 
storm  is  coming.  But  the  brave 
Elihu  does  not  allow  this  sudden 
manifestation  of  God's  nearness  to 
prevent  him  from  using  the  oc- 
casion as  a  means  to  say  some- 

[89] 


OUR    MAN    OF    PATIENCE 


thing  more  on  God's  excellency  of 
power.  Hence  the  thirty-seventh 
chapter. 

Then  the  priest  of  the  village, 
or  the  religious  leader,  steps  for- 
ward and  speaks  for  Jehovah. 
He  has  been  listening,  although 
unnoticed,  to  the  speeches  of  the 
poets,  and  it  is  his  duty,  being 
God's  mouthpiece  to  men,  to  give 
God's  judgment  about  the  puzzling 
question  discussed. 

The  speech  he  delivers,  placed 
on  the  mouth  of  Jehovah,  is  a 
grand  piece  of  poetry,  describing 
in  pleasant  detail  the  combined 
power  and  wisdom  of  God  as 
manifested  in  both  inanimate  and 
animate  creation.  It  pictures  the 
greatness  of  God  in  contrast  with 
the  smallness  of  man,  or  the  big- 
ness of  Jehovah  in  contrast  with 
the  Uttleness  of  Job.  And  all  that 
is  expressed  in  a  deHghtfully  sar- 
castic way  which,  on  the  face  of  it, 
may  give  the  impression  that  th^ 

[00] 


A    BLIND    BEGGAR    OF   BEIRUT 


AN  OLD-TIME  PICTURE 


speaker  is  proudly  making  a  dis- 
play of  his  strength. 

There  is  another  Jehovah  speech 
which  is  the  exact  complement  of 
the  one  which  has  just  been  con- 
sidered. That  speech  has  never 
been  written  down,  but  is  always 
present  to  the  mind  of  every  in- 
telligent Oriental  reader  of  the 
Book  of  Job.  It  may  be  thus 
summarized: 

"  I  am,  0  Job,  creator  and  pre- 
server of  all  you  see.  I  know 
everything  about  you,  and  I  know 
what  is  best  for  you.  Trust  me 
through  joy  and  pain,  just  as  a 
child  trusts  its  powerful  father, 
I  am  the  one  '  who  provideth  for 
the  raven  his  prey '  I  am  all  in 
all;  have  faith  in  my  power  and 
wisdom  and  keep  quiet  and  calm." 

This  speech  is  implied  in  the 
recorded  Jehovah  speech.  It  is 
very  common  in  Oriental  writings, 
especially  in  Arabic  poetry,  to 
paint  one  side  of  the  picture  and 

191J 


OUR   MAN   OF   PATIENCE 

leave  the  other  side  to  be  inferred 
by  the  onlooker.  A  very  common 
Syrian  proverb  says,  "An  intel- 
ligent person  catches  what  you 
have  in  mind  from  a  mere  ges- 
ture." A  simple  gesture  is  suf- 
ficient to  make  him  understand 
your  thoughts. 

In  other  words,  it  is  very  com- 
mon in  Syria  not  to  give  a  direct 
answer.  A  beggar  stops  at  a  door 
and,  instead  of  asking  directly  for 
a  drink  of  water,  he  says,  "  I  am 
very  thirsty,''  which  simple  state- 
ment will  be  sufficient  to  procure 
him  the  desired  object.  The  disci- 
ples of  John  went  to  Jesus  and 
asked  him  a  direct  question,  "Art 
thou  he  that  cometh,  or  look  we 
for  another?  ''  But  Jesus  did  not 
give  a  direct  answer.  He  com- 
manded John's  disciples  to  go  and 
tell  John  that  the  blind  receive 
their  sight,  the  lame  walk,  the 
lepers  are  cleansed,  etc.  He  gave 
one  side  of  the  picture  and  left 

192] 


the  other  for  John  to  infer.  He 
could  have  answered  John  in  one 
word  —  ijesy  but  he  would  not 
have  been  distinctively  Oriental. 
.  Furthermore,  Jesus'  answer  in  its 
present  form  is  ten  times  more 
forcible  and  suggestive  than  it 
would  have  been  had  he  simply 
answered,  yes. 

Hence,  by  drawing  such  a  mas- 
terful and  vivid  picture  of  God's 
^power  and  wisdom,  the  author  of 
the  Jehovah  speech  calms  the 
agitation  of  Job's  stricken  spirit, 
pours  balsam  upon  his  aching 
wounds,  and  makes  him  say  very 
humbly: 

Behold,  I  am  of  small  account;    what 

shall  I  answer  thee? 
I  lay  my  hand  upon  my  mouth  .  .  . 
I  had  heard  of  thee  by  the  hearing  of  the 

ear; 
But  now  mine  eye  seeth  thee: 
Wherefore  I  abhor  myself, 
And  repent  in  dust  and  ashes. 

The   calm   state   of   trust   which 
follows  on  the  heels  of  that  of 

193] 


OUR    MAN     OF     PATIENCE 

turmoil  and  excited  questioning 
floods  Job's  heart  with  joy.  Soon 
heaUng  comes  on  the  wings  of  the 
dove  of  peace,  the  scales  of  the 
horrible  disease  fall  as  if  by  magic, 
and  Job  bids  the  mizbeleh  farewell. 
The  very  angels  of  the  morning 
sing,  Victory  for  the  Man  of 
Patience. 


Date  Due 

rA  ■:':  lY 

NO  15^4! 

1 

m  ^i-'sc 

DEC  " 

.^. 

^  ir-tf 

^»iHP^«i|^ 

i 

f 

i 

i 


